Before You Go James Preller Book Review

Life can change in an instant. There are some people who have dealt with more than their fair share of trauma and so it seems they are shaped by their reaction to the trauma. Before You Go by James Preller opens with a prologue that is real life terrifying and could happen to anyone — the scene of a car accident.

Before You Go

After the prologue, Before You Go is divided into two parts: Before and After. In Before – main character Jude is about to start his first day of work at a food joint on Jones Beach. Life is portrayed as ordinary. We see Jude fall for this girl- Becka. We see him hang out with his best friend Corey – this totally awesome, intelligent, pop culture junkie nerd. We also get a glimpse of Jude’s home life.

James Preller paints a picture of a family deeply impacted by tragedy. Jude’s mom has basically shut down and won’t let any light in the house. His father has taken to running constantly and staying busy and distant. You see, when Jude was a kid his little sister Lily drowned on his watch. So, that tragedy hangs over the whole family.

Of course, I think that the whole point of Before You Go is to show the impacts of grief and pain. It shows how one is going to react and how to move forward and past these unfortunate accidents. I thought the portrayal of the different reactions was realistic.

In all, I liked Before You Go. I liked Jude and his group of friends. However, I felt that the writing got a bit literary and seemed pretentious at times which did hinder my enjoyment. I would recommend Before You Go to hardcore fans of contemporary, male narrators and anyone with an interest in grief books.

April is 30 years old and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and baby, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

I just saw this book on NetGalley this morning. I hadn’t heard of it before that. On one hand it sounds like something I would like, but if you weren’t too crazy about the writing then I’m not going to run out and get it. Fabulous review, April!

Yeah, I didn’t love the writing, like there were spots where it was great and hard to set down and then spots where it got overall literary, which okay I don’t mind literary, but it didn’t seem to match the style of the rest of the book.

Hello Reader Friends!

I’m April and am absolutely delighted you stopped by.

You know that person who always has a book in their purse and a glass of wine on hand? THAT’S ME.

In my free time I can be found binge watching The Office with my husband and baby, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring my neighborhood. I’m so excited to chat with you about all the books we’re reading and listening to.